`Akira': It's Animated But Violent

XXX ``Akira,'' an animated film, written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. Neptune Theatre, today through Jan. 17. No rating. Unsuitable for young children, due to graphic violence. (Dubbed in English)

Gang warfare, student protest, terrorism, military oppression, nuclear holocaust - these aren't the usual topics one thinks of in connection with cartoons.

But then ``Akira'' is no ordinary cartoon.

Budgeted at $7 million, it's the most expensive animated feature film ever made in Japan. Each frame of it shows a fanatic attention to detail, especially in the backgrounds (the human figures in the foreground are the weakest link). The sound - on the Neptune Theater's newly revamped Dolby system - is terrific. The musical score by Shoji Yamashiro explores a sumptuous palette of synthesizer colors with a crisp, rhythmic energy. According to the press kit, 327 colors were used by the animators, and the effect is dazzling: spectrum upon spectrum of hue, tint and neon-flavored seaminess.

If only Otomo's story - and the voice-acting of the American cast for this U.S. version - were up to par, ``Akira'' could be the animation event of the year. For its technique alone, it's still a must-see for animation buffs - but non-specialty audiences may find it a little exasperating.

The script is based on Otomo's best-selling graphic novel of the same name. From the ruins of World War III (which started, according to story, with the bomb being dropped on Tokyo in 1988) has sprung ``Neo-Tokyo,'' an endless metropolis which gets much of its visual inspiration from ``Blade Runner'' and ``Brazil.''

The year is 2019, and the city is beset with civil unrest in the form of gang activity and student subversives. Beneath the agitated social surface, something even more sinister may be going on. When gang-member Tetsuo gets into a motorbike collision with an oddly-complexioned, wizened-faced child (who proceeds to fade into the air), he finds himself a guinea pig in a government-controlled scientific experiment he doesn't understand.

What he does understand is that the experiment has given him an ever-increasing telekinetic power, allowing him to destroy his enemies and punish a world that has done him wrong. He also learns that his power comes from something or someone called ``Akira'' (a common Japanese name).

The violent action that ensues is definitely not for children. Luminous blood is copiously spilled as Tetsuo's motorcycle pals, the military, a terrorist band and a trio of supernatural wizened-faced kiddies (including a girl who looks strangely like Bette Davis circa ``Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'') vie to rescue or destroy him.

``Akira'' offers moments as eerily powerful as anything I've seen in animation. (Highlights include the kiddies bringing toy animals to sinister marauding life, and Tetsuo's nightmares of disintegration.) Unfortunately, those moments are badly undermined by a weak script, a facile scenario and some wretchedly screechy voice-acting.

The biggest problem, however, is the lack of the humor that was evident in ``Laputa'' and ``Twilight of the Cockroaches'' (two other recent Japanese animated features which have the same distributor as ``Akira''). While Otomo's film is easily the most impressive of the three visually, it limits its adult audience with its strictly adolescent mindset.

As it is, it's a noteworthy and sometimes breathtaking curiosity - a tour-de-force with a game leg.